You can’t beat the people

An online publication called, ProfitGuide.com has this to say about Porter.

Photo: Vincent Demers

Aviation veteran Robert Deluce looks nothing like First Mate Gilligan, but his recent ventures on Toronto Island have proven about as successful as that beloved TV character’s bumbling attempts to get rescued.

Porter Airlines, Deluce’s company, has grown from a two-turboprop, single-destination outfit to the airline of choice for Canadian business travellers. But his plans to add jet service to Porter’s offerings at the island’s Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport were seemingly shot down once and for all when new federal minister of transport Marc Garneau announced that the government won’t reopen an agreement that prevents jets from being used there.

The decision was a victory for the NoJetsTO citizens’ group, which mounted an old-fashioned opposition campaign that included lawn signs and a petition, and made Porter’s plans an election issue in the Spadina–Fort York riding. Deluce hasn’t exactly played nice, accusing community groups of “a campaign of untruths and misinformation” in 2013. Like Gilligan, the only way for Deluce to fulfil his ambitions may be to leave the island.